Family Comes First
by Zarius
Summary: TAG2015. Faced with suspension, Kayo makes her case to Scott. She's pretty confident, but something weighs heavily on her mind that only a fellow sailor of the stars can bring her back down to Earth (spoilers for "Touch and Go")


**THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!**

 **FAMILY COMES FIRST**

 **WRITTEN BY ZARIUS**

Disclaimer: Thunderbirds are trademarked by ITV Studios. This is for non-profit.

(This takes place after the episode "Touch and Go")

* * *

"Alan Tracey, just when are you ever going to put these on?" Lectured Grandma as she tossed Alan's pyjamas tops and bottoms out of his bedroom.

"Well clearly not at peak afternoon hours" Alan quipped as he lay lazily stretched across the sofa.

"And another thing, this bed..." she continued, pointing to the perfect spread before her, "I don't think you've ever slept in it. Oh, you remind me of your father back when he was in college...nothing could get him out of his civvies so late in the evening, he'd stay up all night making charts and taking notes on manned space missions, guzzle down a few cans of soda, and then, poof, he'd just lie all over the bed and wake up at these very hours. Sometimes he'd even stretch so far he'd miss dinner"

"That isn't such a bad thing to miss where you're concerned" Alan muttered, although he believed Grandma probably caught that last bit, as she then moved forward on the matter of lunch.

"Just for that, you're getting one of my patented roast salads" she said, and stormed into the bedroom with her vacuum cleaner to clear up the state Alan had left on the floor.

"I didn't say anything" Alan protested, but Grandma couldn't hear his pretentious lies over the sound her cleaner was making.

"Great, that's one salad I wouldn't mind tossing" Alan replied, and plastered yesterday's newspapers over his eyes, trying to doze off the day's frustrations.

A string of arguments suddenly stirred him into alert and active action, he sprang up from the sofa to pinpoint the cause of the commotion, and found his older brother Scott storming into the lounge area with I.R's resident shadow operative Kayo not far behind.

"Do you want me present for this guys?" said Alan, sensing now would be the best time to skip

"You stay right there Alan" said Kayo.

"Why? You need a witness to anything? Don't expect a murder Kayo, it's just a suspension"

"You can't suspend me from operations Scott; you know how effective I was in ensuring The Hood didn't escape with that fuel"

"There's more to it than that Kayo, you're not opening yourself up to me enough about it, instead you turn around and lecture me about changing policies and morals taught to us by our father, what do you think he'd make of your opposition to his concepts?"

"I think he'd adjust" challenged Kayo.

"Let's not get into theories; I'm dealing with enough of them as it is"

Kayo folded her arms, "And what is that supposed to mean? You're not back tracking and thinking more about what The Hood had to gain in sparing me are you?"

"I don't want to think anything courageous about that con man, but he seems to have a great interest in putting your needs above his , at least in this instance" Scott said, "I need to be clear on everything, and you need to be made to be clear on where we stand"

"You need me in my position Scott" replied Kayo, pointing the tip of her middle finger and tapping away at Scott's chest, "A shadow is every bit a reflection of how we react, and so much good has come out of me being the first to seize an opportunity. Please, Scott, if anything last night proved, it's that the rules of the game need adjusting"

"Is this what this is to you? A game?" asked Scott, keeping his anger in check with a disciplinary tone in his voice.

"Life is not a game, but we always end up playing 'Risk' a lot with it" snapped back Kayo.

Scott folded his arm and shook his head quietly, Kayo looked back at Alan, and Alan quietly took a silent instruction from her and sat down, almost as if he was being taught something that needed him to be attentive.

Scott put his finger on the tip of his mouth, calmly collecting his thoughts, and then finally retorted

"Ok, think of this as a rare instance of me changing my mind. No suspensions from duty, but you need to promise that you will be clear on things with me, otherwise I may just get someone to shadow you"

"I wouldn't mind the company, two would be twice as good at getting the job done" Kayo replied.

"Ok, enough with being cute, you're frightening when you get like that" Scott replied, and headed towards the kitchen to prepare a snack for himself.

Kayo twirled around, mimicked a gunshot aim at Scott, and then dropped down on the sofa beside Alan.

"That's what I wanted you to witness. Not a bad turnabout huh?"

"I don't know...should I be picking a side here?" Alan replied.

Kayo swung her right arm over Alan's shoulder, "We're all family here, whichever side you take is always going to be the right one"

"Kayo...about what The Hood did...Scott told me earlier, is there anything you're not telling us?" Alan asked. He figured if Kayo was to be more open to anyone, it'd be with the person she normally sailed across the star struck heavens with.

Kayo was temporarily silent, but Alan's trust in her, combined with his spirited innocence, compelled her to confess at least part of what happened on the airship

"The Hood intended to sell the fuel to the under-privileged. I questioned his sincerity about it, but a part of me believed his words to be honest...everything we possess always falls into the hands of another, be it of ill earned gain or through honest trade, for all I know that could have applied here too, but I can't stop to think about that, because if I do I can't keep..."

"Playing risk?" Alan said, interrupting her, "You don't want to stop reacting when you see something because it may not be so clear to you if the right thing is being achieved or not, and that you'd end up feeling like you were more basic in your role. You're not content being the smaller component"

"Does that make me the right person to have on the side of the angels?" said

"Hey, we're not those divas in Spectrum" Alan replied

"You know what I mean" Kayo snapped back, elbowing Alan.

"You just told me anyone on the side of this family, divided as we could be on a certain subject, was the _right_ side. You're not exactly divided in loyalty...are you?"

Kayo's inner feelings fluttered, she struggled to hold back tension in her voice as she told the most boundless of all the Tracey brothers a bare-faced falsehood.

"No" she said, the quiet corners of her soul, the tiniest portion wanting to confess everything to Alan slowly cursing herself out for the deed committed.

Alan put his hand delicately over her right cheek and stroked it, as he noticed the distinct sadness in her eyes.

"Hey, you don't need to get glum" he said, "Just remember the road is always paved with intentions, good and bad, you just have to be confidant that you can walk the divine path with your own"

Kayo kissed Alan on the cheek and snuggled up beside him, glancing out at the crisp beautiful and excruciatingly bright afternoon sky, and wondering how many more glimpses of the sun she would see on this island before the brothers Tracey discovered her secret and cast her out.

Would The Hood finally be satisfied with whatever her choices would be then?

Would he prove to be right after all?

Whichever way the world turned, one thing was certain.

Family came first.

Which family is what was tearing her apart.


End file.
